Learning how to edit your own writing is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. As more and more work depends on your ability to communicate effectively, good writing skills are of paramount importance.
The writing isn’t hard, you do that all the time. You write notes, type up emails, blast out tweets, tap out texts, and update Facebook. Indeed, in this day and age we’re all writing a lot more than we used to.
But that’s part of the problem.
We write so much and in so many formats that we’ve developed a casual attitude. Actually, a cavalier attitude may be a more accurate description. We’re used to auto-correct oddities, shorthand abbreviations (YKWIM?), and we even skimp on capitalization and punctuation. It’s something we tolerate in the new world of constant connectedness and information overload.
Seeing it from the other side
As the recipient of hastily crafted messages, surely you can see there is room for improvement – particularly for longer form formats like email. If you want to get your point across in an email (or blog post, or letter, or memo), take the time to edit your work.
Draft your message and then review it. Try to see it through the eyes of the reader. Is your message coming across the way you intended?
Cut out superfluous words (and sentences). Re-order ideas to make things clearer. Fix typos. Add whitespace or bolded subtitles if it helps to make the message more readable. Make sure the tone and tenor of the message are appropriate.
Counting on yourself
Sure, the old classic advice still helps – ask someone to review your message before you send it out. But we don’t always have that luxury in today’s fast-paced world.
It pays to develop the habit and the skills to improve your own writing. Taking just a few minutes to re-read your message will pay huge dividends.
Every time you re-read, you should find something that can be tweaked to make it better. At first you may be just catching mistakes – typos, capitalization errors, and punctuation mistakes. With practice, you’ll catch more. You’ll notice that the flow is off or that the point you’re trying to make isn’t as clear as you thought. You’ll realize you didn’t explicitly ask for the information you wanted or that you didn’t include an important detail.
As you continue to edit your writing over time, your editing skills will improve. You’ll edit faster and become more sophisticated at it. All this editing will inform your writing, and you’ll get better at that too. You’ll develop and evolve your writing style and voice. Writing will become easier and your quality will improve.
And all that good writing will help you to more clearly convey your ideas, gather the information you need, and influence others to act. You’ll become more productive and effective in this age where writing is abundant, but good writing is rare.
Photo credit: the Italian voice
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